Django Unchained (Graphic Novel)

This book is one of the best and most faithful adaptations of a movie I have read. Drawing scenes from the original script, there are a few parts throughout the book that didn’t make it to the big screen, so it didn’t feel like a direct translation; it was close enough to the movie so that those familiar with the film won’t feel lost while adding scenes that give this book an edge and making it a suitable supplement to the movie.

The highlights of this book were easily the scenes drawn by R.M. Guéra (Scalpedartist), and the flashbacks illustrated by Jason Latour (artist of Southern Bastards, fill-in artist for Scalped, and writer of Spider-Gwen and Winter Soldier). The Guéra/Latour combination in the first few issues played well bouncing back and forth off of each other, a beautiful compliment of art styles, and the flashbacks were in just long enough to give a taste of some back story but not long enough as to take you out of the present timeline. Both of artists have this rough, sketchy style and know how to draw ugly characters and depicting an honest portrayal of emotion and mood. There are quite a few other artists on this book, all making the book look superb, but the frequent change of artists brought this book down one star for me.

The rotating door of artists, however, did not deter from the overall feel of Django Unchained. The pacing was superb. All of the major beats were given the proper amount of time to shine and the weight of each dramatic scene never suffered in return.

The collected edition of Django Unchained is highly recommended for anyone who is a Taranino fan and to those who enjoyed the film. I would even recommend it to anyone who hasn’t seen the movie but enjoys a nice drama packed story with equal parts action and comedy. This is one story that will resonate with you for a while.